Portland Parks and Rec

We ran our first 5k as a family! We had signed up for two races this year, same ones as last year. Last year we didn’t get to run them. I wasn’t ready postpartum for the first race, and last year the Westmoreland race happened on the first super rainy day of the year. I was bummed last year that I missed both races.

Michael and I were honestly unsure if we’d be able to run this race. Saturday the winds shifted and the smoke from the Gorge Fires was back in Portland and it was AWFUL. So bad I couldn’t be outside and actually felt kind of sick and wheezy in my house. The weather was also predicting rain! So we were basically just waiting to see what it was like Sunday morning. Lucky for us, the winds shifted and the air was clear.

I’ve been running a lot with Logan on my days off. We usually do a 4.15-4.6 mile loop depending on how I’m feeling, so I felt like a 5K wasn’t a big deal. This was a very different kind of terrain though!

The race was two laps around Westmoreland Park. It was on all kinds of terrain. There was bark dust, gravel, pavement, grass, dirt, pathways….you name it, we ran on it!

Logan looks grumpy, but he did great on the race! We started out together as a family. Michael hasn’t been running much this summer–instead he’s been mostly biking.

The start line was on the grass. The people with strollers started towards the back. The beginning of the race was a bit frustrating. It was very congested and slow and I could go faster but ended up getting stuck behind people walking so I could get around them until it opened up a bit. It was harder to maneuver around people with the stroller. But once everyone set their own pace it wasn’t as congested.

I ran with Logan for just under 1 mile and then Michael took over. We ran together for a bit and then Michael passed me. I had planned on taking the stroller back but Michael smoked me and I never really caught back up with them! Bummer. 🙁

I had to run a little slower than normal because the path was so uneven. I was really worried about twisting my ankle or stepping wrong and falling. So I took it easy and just went a little bit slower. The uneven ground and different terrain also made it a harder run for me. I felt my muscles really working a lot harder than normal. What can I say? I am used to city running!!

I took a few short walking breaks (less than 30 seconds each) and my knees felt a little tight and achy but I kept going. When I was starting to feel a bit worn out, the above song came on my playlist and gave me a little boost.

I kept going and was finally about half a mile from the finish. I sped up a little bit to finish strong and saw Michael and Logan at the finish. They came around and then joined me back on the race path so we could cross the finish line together as a family! Yay!! That made me really happy!

Logan and I got some post-run bananas!

We wanted to hang around to wait for the raffle winners but Logan was way past naptime and starting to melt-down so we left. It was a great family event!! I loved that we could all run together!

Final stats:

Michael ran his 5k in about 32 minutes. My time was 37 minutes or so. I’m pretty happy with my time considering the terrain was so hard to run on and I pushed the stroller for part of it. But other than that, great outcome!

Did I train for it? Not really. Have I been running? Yes. So when last week arrived and I realized the race was coming up, I wasn’t too worried. For months I’ve been running every Wednesday with Logan 4.5-5 miles and then on Fridays at work during lunch, I run 2.5-3 miles on the treadmill (depending on how much time I have).

So for the spring and summer, I have been running around 8 miles a week. I figured a 5k wouldn’t be a big issue. I was looking forward to this race. I signed up for two 5k’s last year but I wasn’t quite ready to run them postpartum and ended up skipping them. The last 5k I ran was when I was pregnant with Logan!

Here is a post from 2 years ago when I ran the Laurelhurst 5k. I had been newly pregnant and had just hurt my back, so I was surprised I was able to run it at all. My time that time was 39:41.

The plan for this year was to run the 5k as a family. I was going to run with Logan in the running stroller and Michael was going to run with us. Well, we seem to have bad luck with races–this year? We all got the stomach flu last week. Of course!

Logan got it Tuesday, I got it Wednesday. Michael got it Thursday and was sick all weekend, so he didn’t run and stayed home with Logan. I was solo this time. Which was kind of a bummer.

I woke up Sunday and had breakfast of two fried eggs, half a bagel with cream cheese and coffee. It was dreary out. After months of sun and hot hot hot weather, the weather was rainy and gray. We definitely need the rain, and hopefully it will clear the air of the wildfire smoke, but it was kind of a bummer for race day! It turned out to not be that bad. The rain stopped for most of the race, and just misted a little bit.

They changed the race route this year. The last few years we’ve done it, it was three laps on the pavement through Laurelhurst Park. This year, they made it two laps and it was partly through differently terrain: grass, hills, bark dust, dirt, plus the paved trails.

Laurelhurst Park is really pretty. Lots of trees and plants and there are ponds with ducks and geese. The trail was pretty good this year. I did like that it was only 2 laps through the park. But I wasn’t super excited about running on uneven ground. There were parts of the trail that had tree roots coming up out of the grass and if you stepped wrong, I could see a sprained ankle happening.

I started out pretty good on the race. I just listened to my music and set a pace. I wasn’t in a mood to try and break any records of mine. I just wanted to run the race and hopefully not have to walk for most of it!

I ran the first mile of the race without any walk breaks. I wasn’t particularly fast but I was doing pretty good. There were two hills, one was gravel, that I did walk on during both of the laps.

Sweaty, blurry run selfie!

I started the second lap of the race feeling really strong. I wasn’t tired, despite having the flu for four days leading up to the race. My left knee was a little achy but overall, my body felt good. There was about 1/2 mile left of the race. I sped up a little bit to finish strong.

I crossed the finish line and got my ribbon! I felt really great! Especially for not having to take many walking breaks during the race.

I grabbed half a banana after the race and drank some water, stretched, and then headed home. I didn’t hang around for the raffle. I was sweaty and wet from the drizzle rain during the race and looking forward to a hot shower.

Here are my stats:

So I’m confused as to why the mileage is off. I’m not sure if the race was off or if my GPS was off. I don’t get it. But despite that, I was really happy with my pace and my time. 36 minutes is my best 5k time! I felt super happy about that!

I feel strong and happy with my race and my time! I’m so glad it went well! Next month is my next 5k!